Health and Learning News and Updates

News

Should Canadian schools continue to label students as gifted? Some parents and educators are concerned about the commonly overlooked downsides that come along with the "gifted" label, and some are questioning whether the designation should be applied at all. Many schools in Canada and elsewhere have increased their focus on student-centered education, which aims to capitalize on the students' needs. Many schools also have fewer available resources for separate gifted-education programs. Read more.

New Report Confirms Recession Will Have Lasting Impact on Children's Health: Whole Child Partner America's Promise Alliance's policy affiliate, First Focus, released a new report that underscored the lasting impact of even temporary spells of poverty on children's long-term health. The Effect of the Recession on Child Well-Being, authored by researchers from PolicyLab at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and commissioned by First Focus, examines four areas—health, food security, housing stability, and maltreatment—and reviews the relationship of each to the well-being of children during recessions both past and present.

Report on Kids' Health Shows Mixed Results: National Children's Hospital and its partners have published a report based on reviewed data from 10 indicators for pediatric health in the Columbus, Ohio, community. The good news is that more children appear to have access to health care and early births are decreasing, while the bad news is that obesity in some populations has not decreased and teen suicide and asthma have increased. Read more about the report.

Resources

About KidsHealth: Browse this database to find hundreds of articles on a variety of child health topics in the AboutKidsHealth Health A–Z Library. Articles include topics such as common health problems, first aid, safety, nutrition, child care, behavior school, and relationships.

Take Action

Peaceful Pathways: Reducing Exposure to Violence: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is partnering with local grant makers to offer grants for community-based projects to improve the health and health care for vulnerable populations and to reduce violence in traditionally underserved communities.

Up to eight matching grants of between $50,000 and $200,000 each will be awarded. Organizations must be nominated by a diversity-focused funder that is principally concerned with the community to be served. Projects should be planned and led by members of the specific racial, gender, tribal, or other disadvantaged community to be served, and projects must be culturally appropriate. The grantee is expected to work with the nominating funder and/or additional grantmakers (who need not be diversity-focused funders). Funding partners may include independent and private foundations, family and community foundations, and corporate and other philanthropies. Matching funds must represent new funding specifically designated to support the proposed project. Up to 25 percent of the match for Peaceful Pathways may consist of in-kind services. Deadline: Rolling.

Healthy School Communities is a worldwide ASCD effort to promote the integration of health and learning and the benefits of school-community collaboration. It is part of a large, multiyear plan to shift public dialogue about education from a narrow, curriculum-centric and accountability system focus to a whole child approach that encompasses all factors required for successful student outcomes. Visit the Healthy School Communities group on ASCD EDge and share everything from ideas and solutions to common concerns.